We can be happy with who God made us to be

April 09, 2010|By ROBERT E. LIND

Have you ever dreamed of being someone other than who you are? I know I have. In my younger years I dreamed of being a great athletic star.

I didn’t care what sport, just a star in some sport. Never made that. What’s your dream? I think all of us have had one sometime in our lives. Having a dream is not bad. It’s only when we cease to be ourselves and take on the mask of something we are not that we get into trouble.

Many famous people had dreams they never accomplished. Did you know Napoleon had the dream of being an accomplished musician? The famous artist Whistler dreamed of being a distinguished soldier. Frederick the Great, who became a distinguished soldier, dreamed of being known as a famous literary man. They never realized their dreams but did pretty well in other fields.

We all have fantasies. I wish I had done this or that, or wish I had treated that person differently. We also know the road to happiness is not paved with fantasies. It is paved with recognizing what God has made us and then doing the very best we can with that. I have heard there are three steps to accomplishing what God wants for us.

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First, we need to see ourselves as we are. We need to do this as honestly as we can. Then we need to see ourselves realistically as to what we can become. We need to see ourselves as children of God in the making because that’s exactly what we are. We need to pray, “Please excuse my shortcomings. God is not yet finished with me.”

The second step is to accept ourselves, warts and all. We are all limited is some ways. I never became really good at sports because I just didn’t have the natural talent. It took me a while to accept that.

Instead of concentrating on the talents we don’t have, we need to recognize those we do have. Envying others is a waste of time. We don’t live in their shoes. A famous and very rich movie star once said, “Here in Beverly Hills there is much pleasure money can buy, but very little joy.”

After we accept ourselves the third step is easier. It is to deny ourselves. We have to have enough of God in us to allow us to stop trying to dominate others or allow others to dominate us. We have to gain enough confidence in the “me” God created to be the best we can be. We are children of God. He created us. The Bible tells us we have each been given certain talents. We need to use them. God loves each of us. That means that each of our lives holds tremendous worth.

Remember the story of David and Goliath. When David decided to fight nine foot Goliath, Saul put his armor on David. He gave David his helmet of bronze and clothed him with a great coat of mail. David girded his sword over his armor. When he was dressed in his king’s armor he couldn’t move because of its weight. David said to Saul, “I can’t go into battle this way. I am not used to all this.” David took the armor off.

He went to the stream and picked up five stones and put them in his shepherd’s bag. Taking his shepherd’s sling, he turned and faced Goliath. David realized he couldn’t fight Goliath while being what he was not. He was a shepherd boy, not a soldier. He finally went to fight Goliath as who he was, not as someone he was not.

We make life harder than it needs to be if we never accept the self God made each of us. We need to accept who we are. Then we need to seek to discover what we can become with God’s guidance. We need to live our lives and no one else’s. God has a purpose and a dream for each of us because he loves us. Our job is to find it.

Question of the week: What New Testament book says that God has made his people to be a kingdom of priests? Last week’s question. Who looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw Jesus on the right hand of God? Answer: Stephen (Acts 7:55)

Robert Lind, Somerset, is a retired newspaper editor and publisher. He may be contacted through this newspaper or at rrlind@mac.com.